Myles Turner and Joe Young’s Monster Games Show Their Skill – Offensively

The Indiana Pacers picked Myles Turner and Joe Young in this year’s draft and so far it looks like they picked wisely.

While there were plenty of problems with the Indiana Pacers during their loss to the Denver Nuggets, there was a moment with many of the team’s younger players on the court where the future looked very bright.

After a Denver basket, the Pacers hustled down the court executed a very solid play. Joe Young got things rolling off a pick and roll with Myles Turner that led to wonderful ball movement and execution. All but one player touched the ball on the way to an open dunk in the half court — arguably the rarest and definitely the most coveted outcome for an offense.

While Turner could have tried to overpower Denver’s Gary Harris (and help from Kenneth Faried), he looked for an open teammate and found Chase Budinger in the corner. Chase passed up on what would have been a lightly contested 3-pointer to swing the ball to another open, and better, shooter in C.J. Miles. This is a look you would expect Miles to take 9 times out of 10, but he saw a lane instead and drove directly at the rim. Faried rotated to protect the rim, but this fittingly let the play get back to the point where it began. Miles dropped the ball off to Myles for an easy dunk as a failed attempt by the Manimal to take a charge left Turner wide open.

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There are so many great things about this play. For starters all of this happens early in the shot clock and before the Denver defense had a chance to settle. On top of that, it wasn’t like there were only one or two options. Chase or C.J. could have taken 3-point attempts. Even Solomon Hill, who didn’t touch the ball on the play, is maintaining adequate spacing by staying in a position where Denver’s Joffrey Lauvergne can’t slide over to help. I also like that Myles was resetting outside the paint to avoid a 3-second call before hammering home the dunk.

The whole play looks like Denver trying to rest their own position and never being in place.

Everything was perfect about this play.

It wasn’t just one play, though.

As far as offense, it was a great night for the rookies. Turner was 11-of-13 shooting for a team-high 25 points plus 7 boards and 2 blocks. Young shot 7-of-11 for a career-high 15 points and also had 7 assists on the night.

Young, in particular, showed some mettle that we hadn’t seen yet and was aggressive with the ball. A nifty spin move, in a two-man game with Turner, into a jumper might have been his best move as a pro.

And along with a few dunks and several silky jumpers, Turner managed to once again show that he has some craft in his back-to-the-basket game.

Especially when combined, it was better than what we’ve usually seen from them — and a shame that Indiana took an L when two unexpected heroes had monster games. They both played extended minutes because of the absence of several Indiana regulars, but they made the most of their minutes and proved they may one day have a spot in Frank Vogel’s rotation.

One day, but not yet.

The defense was one of the biggest problems for Indiana on Sunday, and the rookies were also part of that issue.

Frank was audibly annoyed with his team’s defensive efforts and when asked about the big games from the rookies after the game, he acknowledged that despite the rookies great offense, they aren’t ready on the defensive end.

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“They were great — offensively,” said Vogel, with obvious emphasis.

He went on. “Young players are going to struggle on the defensive end and that was the case tonight,” he said. “But, look, those guys haven’t gotten a lot of opportunities and it shows what they’re capable of offensively.”

While the lack of time on the court and experience plays into it, you can’t keep relying on them when they defensive ratings are some of the worst on the team. Young’s 108.9 and Turner’s 101.9 don’t sit well with how Vogel wants his team to work. Sure, C.J. Miles also has a high defensive rating (103.3), but he makes up for it offensively, especially at the beginning of the season. In fact, the rookies and Glenn Robinson, III — who is effectively a rookie thanks to limited minutes last year — are the only players on Indiana with a negative net rating.

That’s not to say they won’t get there. They are coming along and Sunday’s offensive efforts were a big step in the right direction for the younger players. Frank Vogel has proved his excellence as a defensive coach, so it is expected that eventually Turner and Young will come around on that side of the ball as well.

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The future looks bright for the Indiana Pacers’ rookies and sophomore, but they aren’t there yet.